Pacemaker leads represent the electrical link between the pulse generator and the heart tissue, which is to be excited and/or sensed. These pacemaker leads include single or multiconductors that are connected to an electrode in an electrode assembly at an intermediate portion or distal end of a pacing lead. A connector is included at the proximal end to form the electrical connection with the pacemaker.
To implant the lead within the patient, the lead is often fed intravenously toward the heart. The lead may be implanted within or travel through complex or tortuous vasculature. The lead may also need to travel through vasculature having increasingly smaller diameters. However, conventional lead designs may be ill equipped to travel into the smaller sized vessels of the vasculature, or to make the twists and bends required to get to the desired location within the patient.
There is a need for a lead having a lead body with an ability to travel through tortuous vasculature. In addition, there is a need for a lead with a lead body that has a minimal outer diameter and that minimizes trauma to the tissue.